Snorkeling at Clovelly Bay

I actually got to sleep in this morning. It felt wonderful. I'd realized yesterday that I've been going pretty much flat-out for the last three weeks, and it kinda caught up to me. So this morning I lazed about a bit, did the laundry, caught up on email, and all that sort of stuff.

The afternoon, however, was quite different.

Ever since Carroll took me on a driving tour of Sydney's southern beaches and bays back in the spring (our fall), I've wanted to go back to Clovelly Bay. Today I finally got the chance. Covelly is a wonderfully sheltered little bay. A breakwater has been constructed at the ocean end of the bay, creating a deep cove which is an absolute haven for fish. Clovelly is particularly famous for its blue groper fish, which are at least as long as my arm.

Bill drove me to Clovelly and was happy to watch my stuff and catch a nap on the beach while I snorkeled. Wow did it feel strange to be snorkeling without my buddy! But there were lots of other people around and the beach is patrolled by surf lifesavers, so I was just fine. So pretty much as soon as we got there, I slipped on my fins and mask and dove into the water!

I couldn't believe how many different types of fish there were in this little bay - especially considering how many people were splashing around in the water too! You'll definitely want to check out this link I found, which shows pictures of many of the different fish and other critters that call the bay home. I kid you not, I saw pretty much all of these, and many more too! I was especially excited to find an octopus! No, it was not a deadly blue-ringed octopus, and no, I didn't try to touch it, but it was very, very cool and I watched it crawl across the rocks and kelp for a long time.

Everywhere I turned there was something new. I found huge purple sea urchins the size of a dinner plate. I followed the blue gropers as they swam around in the deeper parts of the bay. Some of the other snorkelers were diving down and turning over rocks on the bottom. This would stir up the detritus underneath and attract all sorts of fish to come and investigate. I swam in the middle of a huge school of mados (the small striped fish in this picture), who seemed to be fascinated by my fingers. I absolutely loved the flutemouths, which hung out in the shallows and were as long as my arm, but very slender. So yeah, to put it mildly, it was a great day.

I'm all packed and ready to go for the next part of this adventure. Tomorrow I head to downtown Sydney to meet up with my parents as they return from their short jaunt to Canberra, and we will be flying up to Cairns in the hopes of getting out to see the Great Barrier Reef. The weather forecast up north continues to look dismal though, so I'm trying not to get my hopes up.

I will be living in a variety of hostels for the next three weeks, and have no idea what my internet access will be like. So don't worry too much if you don't hear from me for a while. I will be back in Melbourne on April 5th, so you should definitely hear from me by then!

Happy (early) Easter everyone!